Improvement in the manufacture of rails for railroads



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CHARLES HEWITT, OF HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY.

Letters Patent No. 88,786, dated April 13, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN TEE MANUFACTUE OF RAILS FOR RAILROADS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

of Forming Piles, for use in the Manufacture of Railroad-Bars with Steel Heads; .and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a transverse sectional view of a" steel and an iron bar, as piled preparatory for Welding.

Figure 2 shows a transverse sectional view of the s teel and iron bars of fig. 1, after the same have been welded, and prepared for use in a rail-pile.

Figure 3 represents a transverse sectional view of rail-pile.

Figure 4 shows the rail-pile in perspective.

Figure 5 shows a transversesectional view of inshed rail, with steel head.

Hitherto, to make steel-headed rails, ordinary l'at bars of steel have been used on rail-piles, but, being subjected simply to the same treatment as is common with piles made exclusively of iron, the result has been imperfect welding, and consequent separation of the steel from the rail, when iu actual use.

It has also been attempted to form piles so as to interlock the steel with theiron, relying either inpart, or entirely, on the shape at the junction of the two metals, to prevent the separation of the head from the body of the rail, but these devices would seem to be of doubtful advantage. My invention is designed -to overcome the diliiculty above described, by the use of means which secure a thorough weld of the steel and iron.

I first place a bar of steel, A, iig. 1, upon a bar of iron, B, fig. 1, and, after heating them, weld them together, under a hammer or in rolls, or by the use of both, thus producing the solid bar shown in lig. 2, in which the dotted line C D represents the line of weld, A', the steel layer, and B, the iron layer of the welded bar.

This bar of combined steel and iron is so placed in the rail-pile, gs. 3 and 4, that the part B' shall be contiguous to'and in contact with other iron of the pile.

This pile is heated and made into a rail, by the means in common use for that purpose, but so, that when finished, the steel shall form the head of the rail,

or part thereof, as shown, A, fig. 5. v

As all the bars composing the pile consist entirely of iron, except the one marked A B', figs. 3 and 4, and asthat has a layer of iron on the side in contact with the rest of the pile, it is plain that inthe finishing-operation all the welds will be of iron with iron, and that they can be made with the same ease and certainty,

as in the manufacture of rails consisting entirely of iron.

l Although I have described herein but one mode of making the bar, lig. 2, compounded of steel and iron, I do not limit myself to that mode, as it is entirely practicable to make it from a pile in which the steel and iron, either or both, consist of more than one piece.

As pieces of moderate weight are more easily handled and welded together, than such as are large and heavy, it is evident that my invention secures an important advantage, inasmuch as the most difficult part of the welding, that of the steel and iron, is accomplished while handling a part instead of the whole of the rail-pile. Besides, it is thus made practicable to secure, without much increase of cost, the benefitof the action of a hammer on that part of the metal which most needs it.

l do not claim, as my invention, any method of securing or preventing the conversion, wholly or partially, of' iron bars into steel, for use in forming rail-piles, or in theV making of railway-bars.

WhatI do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The formation and use for and in the manufacture of railroad-bars, witlrsteel heads, of a pile, having, on one of its sides, a bar of combined iron and steel, said bar having been made by welding steel and iron together, prior to placing the same in the rail-pile, the whole being done as herein described, or otherwise substantially the same.

l CHARLES HEWITT. Witnesses:

J. G. BIERWIRTH, GEO. W. VANKLRK. 

